“There may be someone on the next call who needs immediate protection from the police. The sooner the caller can be put through to us, the quicker we can get help to people.”

Call-handlers at the police headquarters in Wymondham take about 350 calls in spring every day, increasing to 450 during the summer months.

But despite 90pc of those calls being answered there within 10 seconds, officers are worried their response to crime will be hit because of time spent responding to non-emergency incidents.

Hoax calls are problematic in Norfolk too, with fire crews being called 239 times in 2012 to 2013 and 182 from 2013 to date.

And David Ashworth, the area manager for the service, warned people will be traced and prosecuted if they make bogus reports.

“Making malicious calls puts the public and property at risk because it means that our fire engines may not be available to respond to a genuine emergency,” he said.

“It is also a huge waste of time and money and can increase the time it takes us to get to serious incidents because our crews are dealing with a hoax call.”

On one day alone last month, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust received a staggering 700 calls above their daily average figure of 2,500.

Brett Norton, senior emergency operations centre manager in Norwich said: “It’s important to remember that 999 is for life-threatening emergencies such as strokes, chest pain, breathing difficulties and serious bleeding. Other options are available, even at the weekends, such as your out-of-hours GP and the pharmacist, and of course you can always ring 111 for health advice at any time of day or night.”

•Tonight @NorfolkPolice will be Tweeting live from the control room between 6pm and 11pm, to show the misuse of 999.